Red Roses team to face Italy

21 Mar 2024 | 3 min |

John Mitchell has named his Red Roses side to face Italy in their first Guinness Women's Six Nations fixture of 2024.

Preview: Italy v Red Roses

Marlie Packer will earn her 100^th international cap as captain of the side on Sunday. The Saracens back row debuted for her country in 2008 and becomes the seventh woman to achieve the centurion milestone for England.

“Reaching 100 caps for your country is an awesome achievement,” Head Coach John Mitchell said.

“Talking to Marlie about her journey, she has had to overcome adversity since her Test debut in 2008. What has been evident since I first met her is her determination to succeed has been ingrained in her over the past 16 years, helping her achieve she has in the game.

“She epitomises what it is to be a Red Rose.”

Zoe Harrison, Emily Scarratt and Abbie Ward all return to a Red Roses starting XV for the first time since the Rugby World Cup final in November 2022, while Kelsey Clifford is in for her maiden Test start.

Back row Sadia Kabeya and scrum-half Lucy Packer appear in the squad after missing WXV due to injury. Amongst the replacements, Maddie Feaunati could make her Red Roses debut.

“We are excited to get going in what is an awesome tournament,” Mitchell added.

“We are focused on improving our performance. We want to get quicker at our game, we want to create more pressure on the opposition, and we want to present attacking opportunities. Italy is our first opportunity to put into practice what we are aiming to achieve.”